Colorado’s players emerged from the locker room after Saturday night’s 69-14 flogging by Fresno State and, without any prompting, told reporters that the embarrassment was not the fault of the coaching staff.

Colorado (0-3) begins Pac-12 play Saturday at Washington State (2-1) after the Buffaloes fared worse than anyone could have imagined during the nonconference portion of their schedule. Including losses to Colorado State and FCS-level Sacramento State, the Buffs fell three times to schools outside the power conferences, a first for the program in the post-1950 modern era.

Beyond that, Colorado established new lows for futility against Fresno State in several statistical categories, including most yards yielded in a quarter (322) and in a half (516), and points allowed in a quarter (35).

Also, CU allowed two plays of at least 80 yards from scrimmage in a game for the first time in school history. And both nearly went the entire length of the field — a 97-yard pass play and 94-yard run in a span of three minutes late in the first quarter.

“Ugly” is not a strong enough description for the egg laid by Colorado on a CBS Sports Network telecast aired nationally.

CU players pointed at themselves, and not at coach Jon Embree or their position coaches.

“These coaches know how to win,” said junior offensive tackle David Bakhtiari, who addressed the team in the locker room after the humiliation. “They’re the best coaches I’ve ever played for, and I am just completely distraught that we cannot execute what they set out for us.

“I just see it as a rut,” Bakhtiari added. “There is something in the turbines that does not let it spin. I’m sick of it.”

Colorado is relying on inexperienced players on nearly every position unit, and coaches said last week they intended to simplify the player responsibilities on both sides of the ball.

That helped, junior linebacker Derrick Webb said. But “in the first half, we had some missed assignments, some missed gaps,” he said. “That’s all it takes sometimes.”

The Colorado coaches, senior linebacker Jon Major said, haven’t “gotten what they deserve. We have a lot of respect for them and the work they put in. It’s not exaggerating when they put in 16 hours a day. They’re some of the best coaches we’ve ever had.

“It sad that, if the players don’t put it together, something (may) happen with the coaching staff. We’re going to do everything we can to get what they deserve.”

Major foresees changes in the defense this week, perhaps in preparation or in schemes. Revisions to the depth chart are always a possibility.

“When somebody goes 69 points against you, something has to happen,” Major said. “We’ll see what (the coaches) come up with.

Embree said he still believes in his coaches when asked if he would consider making in-season changes to his staff, as Wisconsin did after the season opener.

The Buffs coach said he plans to show the game tape to the entire team “so they see which of their teammates were still out there fighting … and which mailed it in.” Embree added that he wasn’t aware of any player that quit.

Each of the three quarterbacks used by Colorado struggled. Embree said he would review the film of Jordan Webb (5-of-13, 85 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions), Connor Wood (5-of-14, 47 yards, two interceptions) and Nick Hirschman (1-of-3, 41 yards) before announcing a pecking order for this week’s game at Washington State.

Athletes, and perhaps football players especially, are innately resilient. But ignoring the scars from this start can’t come easy. It hurts.

“All I can do is take these losses as a positive, even though that may sound crazy,” Derrick Webb said. “If you have any kind of pride at all, you’re going to find a way to fix it. That’s going to be our next challenge.”

Footnote. The Pac-12 Network picked up the Sept. 29 Colorado home game vs. UCLA. Kickoff will be 4 p.m.

Eric Bieniemy, offensive coordinator, running backs coach — CU legend as a player, was a Minnesota Vikings running backs coach for five seasons before returning to his alma mater. This is his first stint as an offensive coordinator.

Greg Brown, defensive coordinator,defensive secondary — In his third stint at CU but first as a coordinator. Co-defensive coordinator at Arizona in 2010. Fifteen years coaching in NFL.

Rip Scherer, assistant head coach, quarterbacks — 33 years of full-time coaching experience, including six at NFL level. Was QB coach under John Fox with Carolina Panthers.

Brian Cabral, defensive run game coordinator, linebackers — Backed up all-pro Mike Singletary on Chicago Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl winner. In his 24th year on staff of his alma mater.

Steve Marshall, offensive line — One of the veterans of the staff, his 33 years of coaching experience include stops at 11 major-college programs (including 2000-01 at CU) and two NFL teams.

J.D. Brookhart, passing-game coordinator, tight ends, special teams — Native Coloradan, was head coach at Akron for six seasons and assistant at Pittsburgh.

Bobby Kennedy, wide receivers — His 22 years of college coaching experience includes a seven years at Texas under Mack Brown, where he coached receivers and was co-recruiting coordinator.

Kanavis McGhee, defensive line, special teams assistant — A Buffs All-American on its 1990 national championship team, this is his first college coaching position.

Mike Tuiasosopo, defensive line — Joined Jon Embree’s staff in 2011 after seven years at UArizona. Was previously on Urban Meyer’s staff at Utah, and also made stops at Utah State and Nevada.

Who’s not: WSU’s defense allowed 460 yards of total offense by UNLV. That was just 1 yard shy of the yards amassed by the Cougars’ offense.

Key stat: Halliday has thrown for 13 touchdowns in his first six games. That’s four more than former Cougar and NFL QB Drew Bledsoe recorded in his first six games.

FYI: Former Colorado coach Dan Hawkins failed to produce a winner in five seasons but won both meetings against Mike Leach, then at Texas Tech — 30-6 in Boulder in 2006 and 31-26 at Lubbock in 2007. The latter stood as CU’s most recent road victory until the Buffs won last November at Utah under Jon Embree.

Injury report: Senior QB Tuel (knee). Status unannounced.

Coachspeak: “I thought (Halliday was) really calm for a guy that hasn’t played a lot. His demeanor with his team was good.” — Leach on his QB’s performance vs. UNLV

CenturyLink, the telecommunications company that ended its sponsorship agreement with Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall because of his protests during the national anthem last year, said it will not terminate its agreement with current client Emmanuel Sanders.